‘He-cession' reshuffles roles

A year ago, Daniel and Cat Koehler both had good jobs as managers for an Omaha Internet retailer.

But Cat Koehler was thrust into the role of primary breadwinner when Daniel was laid off in February. That didn't change when he later found a new job at half the salary.

A self-described “1950s male,” Daniel initially struggled. But he's come to accept his wife's new role and has stepped up in the cooking and child care departments.

Daniel and Cat agree: In times like these, it really doesn't matter where the money's coming from. “When money is tight,'' she said, “you have to let go of ego.''

The Koehlers certainly aren't the only family finding traditional gender roles shuffled. Here and nationally, the Great Recession has taken a disproportionate toll on male workers.

Nearly three-quarters of the 7.3 million U.S. jobs lost over the last two years were held by males, a trend that's caused some economists nationally to dub this the “he-cession.''

Males tend to predominate in many sectors hard-hit with job losses, including manufacturing, construction and transportation.

And while thousands of women also have lost jobs, they've fared much better. In fact, several job sectors where women predominate, including health care and education, actually have added jobs during the recession.

“The double whammy of the recession has been construction and manufacturing, and those are major male occupations,'' said John Schmitt of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C. “Men have been hit in past recessions, but this is a bigger gap than we've seen in the past.''

The he-cession is having major implications for both genders.

Women increasingly are finding themselves the more important earners in their families. Some women who had been staying home are now entering the work force.

Family policy experts say the trends are having profound impacts on the American family, forcing kitchen-table conversations about reshuffling the responsibilities of daily life.

Women increasingly struggle with what some have called the impossible balance of being both breadwinner and mother. Men, particularly those whose self-image is heavily vested in being a provider, sometimes aren't comfortable in their new roles.

“Particularly if he has been working consistently and she has not, it can put a lot of stress and strain on families,'' said Kerry Beldin, an assistant professor in the University of Nebraska at Omaha's school of social work. “Unless there is good support and understanding on both sides, it can lead to conflict.''

Some economists and women's advocates say the trends also help reveal the need for changes within the workplace. More flexible schedules, telecommuting and revised sick leave policies could help families better juggle work-home responsibilities.

“While we as a society have changed, the institutions around us haven't,'' said Heather Boushey, an economist with the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank in Washington, D.C.

She noted that only one in five families today looks like the one in “Ozzie and Harriet,'' the 1950s television sitcom that has become synonymous for the traditional working husband and a stay-at-home wife.

Even Ozzie might have had trouble keeping a job in this economy.

In early 2008, as the recession was just beginning, the unemployment rates for both men and women nationally stood at 4.3 percent. Today the rates are 10.7 percent for men and 8.1 percent for women.

Nebraska and Iowa don't track unemployment rates by sex. But in the past year, both states have seen a significant gender gap develop among those collecting monthly unemployment checks.

The gap can be traced largely to the types of jobs that are being axed.

For example, between August of last year and this year, Nebraska lost more than 10,000 manufacturing jobs — a sector in which 70 percent of jobs are held by males. Statewide, one in 10 manufacturing jobs in Nebraska has disappeared.

There have been nearly 2,000 jobs lost in construction, a field with almost 90 percent male workers.

At the same time, almost every field that has added jobs during the recession is one where women predominate. In Nebraska, there have been 4,600 new jobs in K-12 public education, 1,300 in health care and social work and 1,700 in hospitality and food service.

The same trends have held in Iowa and the nation, and the job losses have been more severe than Nebraska's.

Layoffs in recent months have spread across a wider variety of industries, somewhat narrowing the gender gap. Recent state budget cuts in particular could cost jobs in education and health care.

The big unemployment gap between men and women isn't likely to continue once the recession ends and job markets stabilize, said Eric Thompson, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln economist.

“I don't think we'll see a permanent trend of the labor market being more difficult for men,'' he said. “It's really a feature of this recession.''

However, economists say the long-term trend has been more women moving into the work force and more women becoming breadwinners. The recession, it seems, has only accelerated that.

Now, for the first time in history, just under half of all payroll workers in the nation are women.

In families with a working wife, the percentage where the husband is not employed has increased during the recession from 12.1 percent to 15.6 percent.

In a growing number of cases, a male job loss is forcing women who had previously left the work force back on the job. In the last year, the number of women nationally either working or looking for work has increased by almost 300,000. That comes as the number of men working or seeking work has fallen by 500,000.

In families where both parents were already working, it tends to put more strain on the family budget when the male is laid off. Men typically bring home about 60 percent of the income in such households, Boushey said, and also often are relied upon for the family's health care and other benefits.

Bob Bednar, who runs the Omaha employment agency InSearch Recruiting, said he's had women contacting his office looking for work just so they can get health insurance after their husbands lost jobs with benefits.

“They don't even care how much money they're making,'' Bednar said. “They just want the benefits.''

Teresa Brown of Papillion has noticed the trend of women stepping up to try to maintain family incomes. A consultant who sells Pampered Chef kitchen products, she said the number of active sellers working under her has increased from 12 to nearly 30 in the past year.

“We're bringing in a lot of women who are needing that extra $300 a month,'' she said.

Brown said she knows well the types of conversations that need to go on when the woman steps into a bigger breadwinner role. About three years ago, she took on more work hours and her husband took on evening meal preparation when he was laid off from his job.

Surveys suggest men are becoming more comfortable with the idea of women as breadwinners and are willing to step up to do more around the house. But whether those attitudes translate into real life remains unclear.

Daniel Koehler admits his perspectives on such things have changed since he lost his job at Hayneedle, the Internet retailer where he and his wife, Cat, both worked.

One morning in February they were simultaneously summoned into their respective bosses' offices. He was told they were eliminating his job as a supervisor in the company's call center. She was told she'd keep her vendor management job, but her husband was being let go.

It was a big blow to Daniel's pride. She would go to work every day at the place they both really liked, while he would stay home and fruitlessly put in application after application. He fell into a funk.

“You're supposed to take care of your family, be the one providing,'' he said. “It hurt for a while.”

But he eventually decided he had an opportunity to do what he really wanted, and realized he had a passion for health care. He found a job as van driver and concierge for an assisted living facility and is planning to start nursing school.

There have been other recent adjustments, including the birth of their second child two months ago. But there's no doubt, Cat's now the main breadwinner — something both are comfortable with.

The new roles make for some interesting dynamics. She's excited by her successes on the job but careful not to rub it in. And until now, he said, he didn't realize how much his wife's career had taken a back seat to his own.

In the past when their daughter, Adley, was sick, he'd expect Cat to stay home from work. Now when that happens, he said, he calls his own boss and asks for time off.

Contact the writer:

444-1130, henry.cordes@owh.com

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